By Kebba AF Touray
The Management of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) Monday said the authority had not reviewed the application for recommendation of a license to Apogee FZC, but rather received application from Apogee Gambia Limited.
The management made this disclosure on 3 September 2024 during its appearance before the joint committee to provide testimonies in the ongoing parliamentary inquiry into the fuel saga.
The joint committee of the Public Enterprise Committee (PEC) and Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) are conducting the said inquiry into the petroleum product of 36,953,614 valued at US$30 Million.
The Committee asked: “In your records, have you given any licence to Apogee?
The Management said, “No. We received an application from Apogee Gambia Limited but not the main Apogee”.
Apogee FZC according to PURA has operated as a trader in the Gambia until the authority on the 29th of July 2024, received an application for importation and re-export license by its subsidiary Apogee Limited Gambia.
During the interface, the committee asked the management to explain the functions of the authority, and the management in response said that PURA was established by an Act of parliament, to regulate service providers such as in the areas of water and electricity, as well as GSM operators.
The roles of the PURA they told the committee also include regulation on petroleum actors and the transportation sector.
“We issue licences to TVs, radios, and gas stations, and we do the monitoring and we also do enforcement on the sector as and when the need arises,” they said.
“What are criteria that you use when issuing licences to the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs)? the committee asked.
PURA replied that when issuing such a licence, an applicant applies through its department of water and energy, and legal department, as well as other relevant departments for review, to determine whether all the requirements are met.
“Once that is met, then payments are made to the GRA. Once all the requirements are met, the departments will also proffer advice on the decision to be taken. We will share the documentation with the Ministry, to decide whether or not to issue the licence,” said the PURA Management.
The committee interjected and asked that in essence once due diligence is done and due processes are done, the license is issued to the OMCs, but the management replied that the company has to be incorporated in the Gambia. It added that the applicants must provide their business plans, and “we also ensure that the applicant is not declared bankrupt and has not committed any felony, and that is why we request for a certificate of character”.
For OMCs, the management said that if they have a retail station, and are applying for a retail license, they ask for a certificate from the NEA, as well as the Gambia Fire Service, with the development permit that is approved by the Physical Planning Department.
“The Directorates of the Legal and Economic, and Petroleum and Energy Departments will look at the documentation and if you meet the requirements, we will make recommendations to the Minister for the license to be issued,” they added.
“How do you verify the credibility of the financial statements provided by the applicant? the committee asked, and the management said that one way to make such verification is to analyze the transaction of the applicant, and based on the figures provided by applicants, they would discount it by 30 percent, and try to do financial projections on their financial statement, based on the expected quantities of fuel that you want to import.
“We also look at the other transactions that you have done before to determine whether it is within the country or outside,” they added.
On what are some of the reasons that the PURA uses to deny applicants a license, the management outlined that the financial standing and meeting the technical and environmental requirements are some of the grounds that they can determine whether to deny an applicant a license.
The Management said, “By the Petroleum Act, once we make a decision, the applicant has 21 days to make an appeal to the Minister for a review of your application”.
At this stage, the committee will request PURA to submit details of the petrol station queried by PURA with specific dates and the regulation and the date of the amendment of the regulation.
On whether PURA performs any oversight or monitoring on OMCs with regards to the credibility of the source of their fuel suppliers, the management said “PURA doesn’t have a monitoring mechanism on that”.
On what enforcement actions does PURA have, with regards to companies that violate regulations, the management said that there are two penalties in place, stipulated in the enforcement and petroleum regulations.
The enforcement regulations detail the different types of penalties depending on the offences, and the Petroleum Product Act itself has certain offences that have some penalties based on convictions.
